AP News, July 25th, 2007
Britain plans to build two aircraft carriers in the next decade at a cost of $8 billion, the Ministry of Defense announced Wednesday.
The project is expected to create 10,000 jobs.
The carriers, to be named HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, will weigh 65,000 tons each, nearly three times the size of the carriers now in the fleet, the ministry said.
The ships are due to enter service in 2014 and 2016, and all of the major work will be done in British shipyards, the ministry said.
The new carriers, designed for at least 40 years of service, will replace the HMS Invincible, launched in 1977; the HMS Illustrious, launched in 1978; and the HMS Ark Royal, launched in 1981.
"The carriers represent a step change in our capability, enabling us to deliver increased strategic effect and influence around the world at a time and place of our choosing," Defense Secretary Des Browne told the House of Commons.
The ministry struck a deal with four companies _ British-based BAE Systems PLC, VT Group PLC, and Babcock International Group PLC, and French defense company Thales SA _ to carry out the bulk of the work on the two vessels.
BAE Systems shares rose 2 percent on the London Stock Exchange after the deal was announced.
The deal will see all risk shared between the Ministry of Defense and its partners, said a defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. In the past, defense officials have been criticized for signing up to deals in which they carried all the risk.
